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Start Over Collection Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Records

Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Records 64.48 Linear Feet 2 artifact trays, 1 in. each; 2 flat storage boxes, 1.5 in. each; 2 document cases, 2.5 in. each; 5 flat storage boxes, 3 in. each; 2 notecard boxes, 12 in. each; 3 flat storage boxes, 3.5 in. each; 1 flat storage box, 4 in.; 38 document cases, 5 in. each; 1 roll storage box, 9 in.; 25 record cartons, 15 in. each; 6 record cartons, 15.5 in. each; 2 record cartons, 17 in. each; 4 items, 3.5 in. total; 22 oversized folders, 5.75 in. total 47.21 Gigabytes 1 .warc file and 120 .pdf files

Records of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC), a social and environmental justice organization that operated out of Huntington, WV (circa 1987 to 2022). Its activities are documented through the materials in this collection; formats include audiovisual materials, digital files, the organization's website, printed materials, ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, newsletters, reports, correspondence, legal briefs, general office files, artifacts, and posters. Subjects covered in the collection include environmental policy, justice, and science in general; mountaintop removal mining and Kayford Mountain; Clean Elections (or Clean Money Election Reform); coal sludge and related disasters; fracking; and efforts to stop the proposed construction of Parsons & Whittemore Incorporated's Apple Grove Paper & Pulp Mill in Apple Grove, Mason County, WV, among others.
Collection does not include a box 35, 69, 70, 81, or 82.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Series 10. Artifacts and Ephemera Box 75, Box 76, Box 77, Box 78, Box 79, Box 80, Box 83, Box 84, Box 85, Box 86, Box 87, Box 88, Box 89, Box 90, Box 91, Box 92, Box 93, Item 3, Item 4, Map Case Oversized Folders 1-15

Series 10 consists of OVEC artifacts and ephemeral items. The artifacts include OVEC staff trophy awards, engraved recognition plaques, certificates of achievement, pinback buttons, and various bumper stickers for various causes. Additionally, there are a number of ephemeral items including OVEC Christmas ornaments (1999-2000) (see Boxes 79 & 88), Masseypoly (Monopoly board game parody) (see Box 86), a Joe Manchin marionette doll (see Box 76), Vivian Stockman's Ms. Renewable Energy top hat and printed coal cash (see Box 75), and a solid foam model of Kayford Mountain with removable mountaintops and insertable valley fills (see Box 85). There are also miscellaneous rolled OVEC banners and environmental posters (see Box 91).

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center
  2. Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Records

Series 1. Audiovisual and Media Box 1, Box 2, Box 3, Box 4, Box 25

Series 1 consists of mixed audiovisual and media materials (1990-2012). The formats in this series include CDRs, DVDs, audiocassettes and reel-to-reel tapes, VHS, VHS-C, Mini DV tapes, and 3.5-inch floppy discs.
Series 1 includes news broadcasts (60 Minutes, (Bill Moyer), photographs, interviews, congressional hearings and protest music regarding mountaintop removal mining, Clean Elections, Apple Grove Paper and Pulp Mill, Kayford Mountain, Draft Environmental Impact Statements, Blair Mountain, coal sludge, and fracking. Additionally, there are several commercially released DVDs of documentaries on mountaintop removal mining and other subjects.
One of the highlights of Series 1 is the ten-minute debate between OVEC's Vivian Stockman and coal operator Don Blankenship on mountaintop removal mining (several copies in Box 1).

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center
  2. Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Records

Series 2. OVEC Special Collections Library Box 5, Box 6, Box 7, Box 8, Box 9

Series 2 consists of the materials in the OVEC Special Collections Library. The OVEC Special Collection Library was shelved in their Huntington, West Virginia office, where a placard stated: "All the books, DVDS, and magazines on these shelves mention OVEC's work, or our volunteers and staff, or feature OVEC photos."
Series 2 subject matter includes mountaintop removal mining, wetlands policy, sludge ponds, environmental policy, environmental justice, environmental communication, environmental science, global warming, and Appalachian women. Additionally, there are various official publications and printed ephemera, in particular corporate reports, clean air task force and cerulean warbler information, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and other organizations' newsletters, newspapers, and newspaper clippings.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center
  2. Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Records

Series 3. Photographs and Slides Box 10, Box 11, Box 12, Box 13, Box 14, Box 15, Box 94, Box 16, Box 17, Box 18, Box 19, Box 20, Box 21, Box 22, Box 23, Box 24, Item 2, Item 1, Box 28, Folder Oversize 16-22

Series 3 has numerous photographs of OVEC leaders, members, and other important individuals. They include Dianne Bady, Janet Keating, Laura Forman, Vivian Stockman, Judy Bonds, Ken Hechler, James Weekley, George Daugherty, Larry Gibson, Marie Gunnoe, Dan Kash, Doris "Granny D" Haddock, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Art Kirkendoll, Don Blankenship and many others.
Series 3 also includes four Paul Justice sepia toned photographs of the Martin County, Kentucky sludge spill, which occurred on 2000 October 11 (see Oversized Folder 18). This series also includes a dozen foam core mounted photographs of various scenes, including mountaintop removal, fracking, and other related images (see Oversized Folders 19-22). Additionally, there are half a dozen encapsulated photographs of mountaintop removal, the Big John dragline, and similar images (see Oversized Folder 17). Lastly, there are two framed panoramic photographs by photographer Manali Sibthorpe (from 2008), the first titled "Larry and Dog" and the second titled "Mary and Pauline" for Mary Miller and Pauline Canterberry (see Items 1 and 2).
Series 3 includes photo albums as well. This includes a photo book of OVEC activities. One highlight is a photo album (see box 28) dedicated to the life and OVEC activities of Laura Forman (1962-2001). Forman died of heart failure in 2001 December at the Corps of Engineers Huntington office at a rally protesting mountaintop removal.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center
  2. Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Records

Series 4. OVEC Newspaper Clippings Box 29, Box 30, Box 31, Box 32, Box 33, Box 34

Series 4 consists of newspaper clippings about OVEC endeavors, culled from local newspapers. These newspapers include the Huntington Herald-Dispatch, the Charleston Gazette, the Charleston Daily Mail, the Parkersburg News, the State Journal, the Lexington (Kentucky) Hearld-Leader, the Washington Post, and others. This series is ordered chronologically by date in hanging folders. Subjects include mountaintop removal, Apple Grove Paper and Pulp Mill, Clean Elections, Martin County, Kentucky sludge disaster, Blair Mountain marches, Funeral for the Mountains, Walk for the Mountains, Kayford Mountain, and many other OVEC related news stories.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center
  2. Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Records

Series 5. OVEC Newsletters and Website Box 26, Box 27

Series 5 consists of a complete set of OVEC printed newsletters as well as an archived copy of the OVEC website, both of which document the organization's activities.
The newsletters include protest and rally coverage, photographs, calendars of events, member news, member and donor recognition, topical cartoons, grant information, conferences, editorials and letters to the editor, West Virginia legislative news, and calls for action. Additionally, board and staff member information is listed in each issue.
Initially titled OVEC News in 1991 April, it became Toxic Times for two issues, before settling on E-News in 1991 November. The OVEC newsletter was renamed Winds of Change in 2002 November and remained unchanged until its final issue in 2022 February. Additionally, the OVEC website has a complete set of digital OVEC newsletters.
The information provided on the archived copy of the OVEC website reflects the materials contained within this collection and may be of supplimental use, especially the blog entries.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center
  2. Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Records

Series 6. Apple Grove Paper and Pulp Mill Box 36, Box 37, Box 38, Box 39, Box 40, Box 41, Box 42, Box 43, Box 44, Box 45, Box 46, Box 47, Box 48, Box 49, Box 50, Box 51, Box 52, Box 53

Series 6 consists of materials related to OVEC's efforts to stop the proposed construction of Parsons & Whittemore Incorporated's Apple Grove Paper & Pulp Mill in Apple Grove, Mason County, West Virginia. Controversy over the project began in 1989, and after successful efforts by OVEC, plans for the pulp mill were scrapped in 1997. The opposition to the pulp mill was rooted in many concerns, especially the release of carcinogenic dioxins into the Ohio River and into the air (dioxin, a carcinogenic chemical, is a byproduct of the chlorine bleaching process used in the pulping process). Other concerns were the pulp mills' outdated technology, the unregulated harvesting of the regional timber stands, closed-door tax breaks, other concessions to be granted by the State of West Virginia to Parsons & Whittemore, and the employment of non-West Virginia workers.
Series 6 materials include OVEC press releases and fact sheets, OVEC and non-OVEC newsletters, regional newspapers and newspaper clippings regarding the pulp mill (including investigative articles, editorials and letters to the editor) and Parsons & Whittemore documents and correspondence. Additionally, there are Environmental Protection Agency documents and reports, and studies regarding the effects of dioxins on humans and animals. Additionally, there is general information regarding pulps mills worldwide, materials related to the American timber industry and the paper products industry.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center
  2. Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Records

Series 7. Clean Elections Box 54, Box 55, Box 56, Box 57, Box 71

Series 7 consists of materials related to OVEC's Clean Elections (or Clean Money Election Reform) initiative. OVEC recognized that coal mine owners and operators, bankers, insurance executives, timber barons, and other industrial interests donated large sums of money to West Virginia political campaigns and in effect bought state level elections. Clean Money was a broad-based initiative intended to empower voters by removing big corporate money from politics and eliminating election buying, increasing transparency and accountability in elections, election reform, and non-partisan judiciary. Additionally, voter education and the protection of West Virginians' right to vote were part of this initiative.
Series 7 materials include legal papers, newspaper articles and clippings, Clean Election legislation, correspondence, and WV Clean Election Act draft documents. Additionally, this series includes materials related to other states' efforts to provide Clean Elections. The states are Massachusetts, Maine, Arizona, and Wisconsin.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center
  2. Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Records

Series 8. Mountaintop Removal Mining Box 58, Box 59, Box 60, Box 61, Box 72

Series 8 consists of materials related to OVEC's efforts to stop mountaintop removal mining (MTR), one of its most important missions. In practice, MTR mining used explosives to obliterate mountain tops, revealing the coal seams below for extraction. Overburn or spoils from the process were then dumped into the surrounding streams as "valley fill." Valley fills disrupted the natural dissipation of rainwater and led to catastrophic flooding downstream. A secondary result of MTR mining was the need for containment ponds to store coal sludge; a thick slurry of coal dust and water left over from the coal cleaning process. The failure of these containment ponds also led to catastrophic flooding.
Series 8 is comprised of many types of materials documenting the destructive nature of MTR. They include newspapers and newspaper clippings, magazines, and journals. Additionally, there are materials related to Blair Mountain, Spruce Fork No. 1 Mine, water quality issues from MTR, Mine Sludge Safety Project, Cumulative Hydrological Impact Assessment (CHIA), and Office of Surface Mining materials. Lastly, there are oral histories, a set of letters from San Francisco, California Third Graders opposing MTR, and a file entitled "No Brains Emails," essentially hate email sent to OVEC.
Individuals involved in the fight against MTR are represented in this series: Larry Gibson, Marie Gunnoe, Jack Spadaro, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and others.
A highlight of this series is the publication Like Walking onto Another Planet: Stories about the TRUE Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Mining. This pamphlet consists of oral interviews with individuals affected by mountaintop removal. These are serious and somber accounts of the devasting effects of MTR mining on West Virginia's environment and its culture.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center
  2. Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Records

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